Sleighs, Cutters & Carioles

Up until the last half of twentieth century using a sleigh was a necessity in areas that received more than a couple inches of snow. Although they were only required for a few months of the year, sleighs were manufactured to fulfill a variety of needs, sizes, and pockets in much the same manner as buggies, coaches and carriages. Usually a manufacturer would build both. In fact, some sleighs were simple buggy or coach bodies added to fancy runners instead of wheels. 

In the early 1800's, the most common North American winter vehicle was the piano box sleigh. Sensible, practical, it was made for hauling a family with kids, farm or business goods and usually pulled by a single horse or a team of horses.

Moose hitched to sleigh, Athabasca Landing, Alberta.  1909. Glenbow Archives, Calgary, Alberta

First designed in the early 1820's by James Goold of The Albany Coach Works, the Albany sleigh presented an ornate, rounded body in direct contrast to the piano box sleigh. With higher runners it could glide smoothly across deeper snow. Built with a single seat for two people, it became a romantic cutter, able to race against the fastest sleighs of the time. 

1868 Albany cutter manufactured by The Albany Coach Works. Courtesy of coachbuilt.com

The single seat Albany cutters and two-seater sleighs were the most expensive sleighs of their time due to their custom finish to whatever paint and fabric you ordered. Because of this customization however, Albany sleighs never reached mass market. Instead, Portand sleighs became the most popular sleigh of the snowy season.

According to The Farm Implement News Volume 15, Peter Kimball of Bryant's Pond, ME buiilt the first Portland sleigh one year after Mr. Goold built his Albany sleigh in 1817. But Kimball stuck to straight lines instead of Goold's curved ones and the simplicity appealed to the Puritan nature of the New England population.  

This newspaper ad from The New York Herald of December 12, 1869 shows what was trending during that winter:

The New York herald. (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, December 12, 1869. Image provided by Library of Congress, Washington, DC

So fifty years after their introduction, the sleek Albany cutter was old-fashioned and the Portland and Boston made Sleighs were light, elegant and modern. They may have the rolled dash, but their bottoms were still flat which makes me call them boxy. Further research led me to the 1889 Hitchcock Manufacturing Co Catalogue which showed two versions of a Swell-Body Cutter - one with a foldaway top.

A similar ad for a Swell Body Cutter in an 1894 edition of The Farm Implement News confirmed the Swell Body cutter was on the market and not just the offering of one manufacturer.

It's interesting to note that the 1911 Sears, Roebuck and Co. Fall Catalogue carries the Portland cutter with a slightly rounded bottom and high runners, as well as a double-seater platform Business or Pleasure Sleigh that looks like the old Piano box style.

This two-seater held a minimum of 4 people and used independent runners for easier maneuverability as well as safer travel. Called a bobsleigh, it didn't tip as easy with the dual runners as it did with those using long, single runners on each side. 

Although the Albany and Portland styles were manufactured in Canada during the same time as their American counterparts, a different type of sleigh, called a cariole, was often seen north of the friendly border. Gliding low to the ground instead of with 12-18" high runners, the cariole looked similar to the old world ones in countries like Russia where snowfall equaled that of Canada. You can see the style difference between the cariole and other sleighs of the time on this poster from the January 1899 issue of Harper's New Monthly Magazine.

Poster for Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, Jan 1899

Larger carioles provided a seat for the driver, but the design still retained the low solid appearance which appears frequently in Canadian paintings.

Winter Beauties of Humber Valley Hold Lure, The Globe, Toronto, 7 January 1925, Courtesy of Toronto Public Library

The Canada Science and Technology Museum has several sleighs on display including a Victoria sleigh built for 3-5 passengers. According to the write-up, this is one of the sleighs developed from an existing carriage design - the cabriolet - and adapted to bent wood runners. 

Victoria Sleigh with Cabriolet body. Courtesy of Canada Science and Technology Museum

This video shows different types of sleighs in action and explains many more available at Skyline Farms, Maine. Sleighs and Sleighbells by Rural Heritage

Sleighs can be found at many large museums in snowfall areas, but check out the small museums too. They may only have one type, but it will give you an idea of what was available and in use in that area. 

So, did you see a sleigh you liked? Have you ever been on a sleigh ride? Where? When? Why? What was the weather like? What time of the day?

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Anita Mae Draper's historical romances are written under the western skies of the Saskatchewan prairie where her love of research and genealogy yield fascinating truths that layer her stories with rich historical details.  Anita's short story, Here We Come A-Wassailing, was a finalist for the Word Guild's 2015 Word Awards. Her novellas are included in Austen in Austin Volume 1, The American Heiress Brides Collection, and The Secret Admirer Romance Collection. Readers can check out Anita's Pinterest boards for a visual idea of her stories to enrich their reading experience.  Discover more at:

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